CAREERS & the disABLED Magazine, established in 1986, is the nation's first and only career-guidance and recruitment magazine for people with disabilities who are at undergraduate, graduate, or professional levels. Each issue features a special Braille section.

CAREERS & the disABLED has won many awards, including several media "Award of Excellence" acknowledgments from the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.

This magazine reaches people with disabilities nationwide at their home addresses, colleges and universities, and chapters of student and professional organizations through a paid subscription.

Advocations, a Charlotte, NC-based small business that connects and supports professionals with disabilities and inclusive companies nationwide, has won the 2017 SCORE Award for Outstanding Job Creator, Small Business, presented by Intuit QuickBooks.

Founder and CEO Lindsey Haaser, who was born with a severe hearing impairment, started Advocations in 2009. Since then, the firm has secured job placements for thousands of people with disabilities. According to the company, it’s achieved a turnover rate of only 8 percent compared to an average turnover rate of 383 percent.

As a confidential third-party resource, Advocations is positioned to address disability-related concerns, while helping companies source, train and retain an inclusive workforce.

“I started Advocations…to help companies think strategically about disability inclusion. We work with some of the most progressive companies to source thousands of people with disabilities. Companies spend a lot of time, energy and money designing special disability inclusion programs. People with disabilities just want to be people,” says Haaser.

Its proactive approach builds trust, increases self-disclosure and makes disability something worth discussing. Its mission is to connect and support professionals with disabilities and inclusive companies nationwide - including several Fortune 500 companies - and its vision is to transform, “not” “able” into “notable” by making disability worth talking about and employment a reality. It also now leads the employment strategy for ADVICE/National Autism Speaks.

Haaser was supported by two SCORE mentors who helped her business get on its feet and moving. One of them was Chuck Sawicki.

“I started Advocations at 25. There was a lot I didn’t know. That changed in 2013 when I met my SCORE mentor Chuck Sawicki. Chuck’s tough-love approach challenged me in ways no one else ever has, and, as a result, our revenue doubled in 1.5 years and continued to grow,” she notes.

SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors that provides free mentoring to more than 125,000 small business entrepreneurs each year. The SCORE Awards is an annual event that celebrates the outstanding achievements of America’s small businesses.

The Herndon, VA-based non-profit association has been dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals via education and mentorship for more than 50 years. Its work is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), headquartered in Washington, DC.

View 90-second a video created in honor of Advocations’ SCORE Award at youtube.com/watch?v=SIgvxJ-PkEo&feature=youtu.be.